


Leokumi Week Day Three (Story Two) - Supernatural AU

by Queen_of_the_Nerds



Series: Leokumi Week 2019 [6]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, Fluff and Angst, Ghost Leo, Leokumi Week 2019, M/M, im sorry, takumi dies and Leo is already dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:35:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21732343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queen_of_the_Nerds/pseuds/Queen_of_the_Nerds
Summary: Leo haunts Takumi’s attic
Relationships: Leon | Leo/Takumi
Series: Leokumi Week 2019 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1540042
Comments: 7
Kudos: 18





	Leokumi Week Day Three (Story Two) - Supernatural AU

The gentle tinkling of piano keys drifted lazily through the house, the faint melody swirling through empty rooms and open doorways. Takumi shoved his pillow over his ears and tried in vain to block out the noise, clamping his eyes shut in an attempt to go back to sleep.

Every night - every night - at 3am exactly that damn piano music would start playing. Takumi groaned, rolling on his back and accepting the fact that he wasn’t going back to sleep tonight, again. “I think I know why this house was so damn cheap now” he grumbled to himself, glaring at the ceiling before heaving himself out of bed. He gulped down a glass of water and a couple of painkillers in the kitchen, rubbing his hand across his eyes as if that would alleviate the pounding behind them. He hadn’t had a single good night’s rest in the three weeks it had been since he moved into this place, and it was really starting to catch up to him. He’d fallen asleep in class for the first time ever the other day, although thankfully no one seemed to notice in the crowded lecture hall. The piano music reached a crescendo before going back to its usual volume and Takumi slammed his hand onto the counter in response, grip white-knuckled around his glass. This was the last straw. He couldn’t put up with this anymore. Takumi had torn the house apart looking for the source of the noise before, but had been unable to find it - he didn’t even have a radio, let alone a keyboard or a piano. This time, however, he was going to find where the hell the noise was coming from, even though it seemingly came from nowhere.

Takumi whisked around the house in a rage, listening intently in the hope of finding the source of the music - however, he realised to his ever growing frustration that the music seemed to be an even volume throughout the entire house. Takumi was ready to quit once again when he realised that he music did in fact seem louder in only one specific place in the house - when he stood directly underneath the trapdoor in the ceiling which led to the attic. But that was preposterous, the music couldn’t be coming from the attic! It was locked and, according to the previous owner of the house, had been for many years. The man - what was his name? Ganon? - didn’t even have a key to the trapdoor. So how the fuck was piano music coming from the attic?

I should wait, Takumi thought. I’ll go back to bed and call a locksmith in tomorrow. They can get the attic open and I’ll be able to stop this noise once and for all. 

Takumi turned and headed out the back door, grabbing the axe he kept in the backyard next to a small wood pile.

Or I can just cut my way through now and be done with this shit.

A couple of swings in, it dawned on Takumi that perhaps using an axe on something above his head might not be the best idea. This thought was quickly confirmed when a shard of wood almost fell directly in his eye, but he had started now and most certainly did not want to stop, and so he hacked away until the trapdoor fell out of its frame. He hauled the ladder out of its cupboard and positioned it underneath the brand new hole in his ceiling before pausing and listening hard. The music had stopped. It had never stopped before - it always played through until sunrise. Takumi shrugged, and headed up the ladder anyway.

After all, what’s the worst that could happen?

Takumi heaved himself up into the attic, grateful for the moonlight which streamed through the attic’s single window - in his sleep deprived, frustrated haze he had forgotten to bring anything to use as a torch. He stood up straight and... stopped. There, in the center of a room which otherwise contained nothing but dust, stood a grand piano. The lid was closed, and the sheet music that sat at the front had been bleached by the sun. The entire thing was covered in a thick layer of dust - it was clear that nobody had touched it for years. 

“How the fuck,” Takumi spoke out loud in his shock, “did a grand piano get into the goddamned attic?” He turned around and began to climb back down the ladder, muttering to himself as he went. “You know what? I will deal with this tomorrow. Some kids playing a shitty prank with a speaker, that I can deal with. But this?” His raised his as he marched down the hallway. “No thanks. Gods I need to sleep.” He crawled into his bed with a sigh, grateful for the silence, but no more than five minutes after Takumi lay back down did the music start up again. 

He screamed.

Seething, Takumi practically sprinted back to the ladder, flying up it and bursting into the attic just in time to see a flicker of movement around the side of the piano. “I see you!” He yelled, “and I can bloody hear you too! Get out here!” He circled the piano, looking under and around it, searching for the person he knew was hiding up here. But the attic was completely empty! There was nowhere for anyone to hide, so where could they have gone? Unless...

Triumphantly, Takumi threw open the lid of the piano, yelling out a smug “found you!” as he did so. But once he actually saw what was inside the piano, he screamed again - and this time it wasn’t out of anger, but terror.

A voice spoke up from behind him. “It seems you did find me.” Takumi whirled around, heart - and stomach, gods he feels like he’s going to throw up - in his throat, hands trembling. Stood before him was a man about his age, blonde, wearing a white button down and black jeans. The normalcy of his appearance would have been almost soothing, if Takumi had not been able to see the opposite wall through his body. Dust motes danced in his chest and the moonlight shone through his head. Takumi could only stare, mouth agape. 

“If you keep staring with your mouth open like that, you’ll catch flies,” the boy said smartly.

Takumi’s jaw snapped shut, and he leant against the piano for support as he felt his knees buckle. His tongue was leaden in his mouth as he fumbled for words. “You’re...”

“Dead? A ghost? Yes, I am. Quite observant of you.”

“And are- are those?” Takumi gestured helplessly to the piano.

“My bones?” The boy frowned, his gaze growing sad. “Yes, they are. Although they’re not in there because I wanted them to be.”

Takumi’s head was swimming, as was his vision, and he felt nauseous. “I think I’m going to pass out,” he croaked as he sank to his knees.

The young man sighed. “How inconvenient.”

•••

When Takumi awoke, he was still lying on the floor in the attic, the ghost of the young man sitting beside him. 

“Ah, you’re awake. That’s good, for a moment I was worried you would be joining me up here,” he cracked a smile, and Takumi could immediately tell that it was something he hadn’t done for a long time. It was wobbly, and a bit strained, but it was genuine. “That aside,” the boy continued, “I do apologise that I couldn’t move you somewhere more comfortable.” He waved his arm through the air, “insubstantiality, and all.”

“Uh,” Takumi sat up slowly, one hand on his head, a little bit groggy from his unfortunate nap. “I don’t even know where to start with this.”

“Me either, truthfully,” the boy said, looking at the floor. “I haven’t been able to communicate with another person since I died.” They sat in an awkward silence for a few moments before the ghost looked up and frowned. “Actually, why did you come up here? You hacked open the door with an axe... doing some midnight home renovations, were we?”

Takumi spluttered. “What? No! I came up here because your blasted piano playing has been keeping me awake for the last three weeks!”

The boy looked stunned. “You can hear my playing?”

“Of course I can!”

“Well excuse me for not knowing, no one else has ever been able to hear it. Pianos don’t exactly work well with dead bodies stuffed in them.”

Takumi blinked. “Uh, touché.” He cleared his throat. “Weird that I could hear it, then.”

“Perhaps you’re more sensitive to spiritual energies?”

“I know I’m talking to a ghost right now, but that just sounds like a load of nonsense.”

The ghost’s mouth lifted up at the corners. “You’re right, it does. To be honest, it actually is - I didn’t even believe in ghosts until I became one.”

“That must have been quite the shock,” Takumi said, unsure of how else to reply. “My name’s Takumi, by the way. What’s yours?”

Smooth change of subject, Takumi.

“Leo,” the ghost answered. “Nice to meet you, Takumi. But, uh, sorry for disturbing your sleep for so long.”

“It’s okay as long as you don’t do it again,” Takumi said. “You can play the piano as much as you want, just please not at 3am. And you can come down into the house, too, if you’d like. I doubt it’s all that fun staying up here.”

“You’d be right about that,” Leo said, “but I haven’t been out of this attic since I died. I don’t know how I would react, walking through this house without my family here.”

“Well, you don’t have to, but the offer is still open,” Takumi replied. He glanced out the window, only to see that the sun had begun to rise. “Oh that’s just great, I’m going to fall asleep in class again,” he sighed.

•••

When Takumi came home later that day, he was surprised to see Leo sitting on his living room couch.

“Decided to come down after all?” Takumi asked.

Leo hummed. “I thought it was about time I finally bit the bullet and came down here. Face my fears, and all.”

Takumi nodded, carefully taking a seat next to Leo. “I understand... it must be so strange seeing this place with someone else living in it.”

“Well, there’s that,” Leo said, “but I haven’t seen my family, or this part of the house, in years. It’s nothing I won’t get used to.” Leo was staring at the opposite wall, unblinking, and Takumi could tell that he wasn’t really seeing it. “It’s just that... I keep on thinking I’m going to see him around every corner.”

“Him?” Takumi prompted, brow furrowed.

Leo seemed to shake off his train of thought. “Ah, it’s nothing.”

“Well, in that case,” Takumi said, unwilling to pry, “how about we do something together? Get to know each other a little bit, seeing as we’ll probably be living together for a while.”

Leo stood and clapped his hands together, eyes shining and smiling in a way that looked a lot less strained than that morning. “That sounds like an excellent idea! Do you know how to play chess?”

•••

And so, Takumi lived with a ghost. He found that Leo was surprisingly easy to get along with, even if he could be a bit of a pretentious asshole sometimes. He was highly intelligent, and was actually quite kind and funny. As an added bonus, they seemed to have the exact same interests, so their conversations were entertaining and flowed easily. Takumi could also admit to himself - sometimes, when he let the thought creep up on him - that Leo was really quite attractive.

However, Takumi soon found that he couldn’t think about Leo for very long, because doing so always made his heart heavy. How did a kid - because that’s what Leo was, Takumi realised, a kid, college aged like he was but still so, so young - end up with his body hacked to pieces and stuffed inside a grand piano? It didn’t bear thinking about, and Leo hadn’t told him about it either. Takumi was, admittedly, incredibly curious, but he didn’t dare ask.

They were content with how things were, with their midnight rants and one-sided chess matches, with their stupid jokes and stupider debates.

They were content, until one day they weren’t.

A few months had passed since he and Leo first met and Takumi knew he was in way over his head. Takumi was aware he payed more attention to Leo than he should; that he spent more time looking at Leo’s hands than the chess or shogi pieces they were moving, more time gazing at his mouth than listening to his words, more time studying the exact shade of blonde his hair was than watching whatever cheesy sci-fi movie they were watching. He knew he had a crush on Leo, as much as he tried to deny it.

Admitting it to himself killed him, a little.

Because Leo was dead, and he wasn’t, and so there was no way it would ever, ever work out. Hell, they couldn’t even touch each other; while Leo could, with great effort, manipulate small objects, he was actually about as substantial as a summer breeze. Takumi would age, and grow old, and move away, and Leo would stay exactly as he was, exactly where he was.

And it hurt. It hurt so much for Takumi to know that it would be utterly impossible for he and Leo to ever be together. And so to save himself, he tried to block those thoughts, tried to shove his feelings deep down inside himself and lock them away. But it was too late - once he had admitted his feelings to himself - the love along with the pain - they started to consume his thoughts.

He started to dream about them. About being able to touch Leo, to hold him, to tell him how he felt. One night, a few weeks after the dreams started, Takumi had a dream that was so vivid and realistic that he almost burst into tears once he woke up, filled with a sense of hopelessness at his feelings and helplessness that he couldn’t do anything about them.

He managed to hold himself together for a few minutes, until the accumulated mental strain of burying his feelings finally took its toll - the dam broke.

Leo, to Takumi’s ever growing misfortune, heard Takumi crying and came in, worried. Takumi saw Leo sit beside him out of his peripheral vision, but didn’t feel the bed move. He sighed, angrily scrubbing away a few tears.

“What’s wrong?” Leo asked softly. He was being caring, Takumi knew, but the thought just made him sadder.

“I just-“ Takumi choked on his words. He tasted salt in his mouth.

He couldn’t look at Leo.

“I just... can’t deal with it, I guess.”

“Can’t deal with what?”

Takumi visibility tensed, and Leo lifted his arm automatically, reaching out to reassure him only for his hand to pass through Takumi’s shoulder. Leo sat his hand back in his lap and wrung them together, at a loss.

Takumi took a shuddering breath and tried in vain to wipe his eyes. Then he sighed, shoulders slumping, and began talking. He didn’t really want to burden Leo with his feelings, but he just needed to talk about them, to let them out, so desperately that he couldn’t help himself.

“I’m in love with you,” he sobbed, “and I can’t even touch you.”

Leo’s face screwed up as if he was going to cry. He couldn’t, of course. He had no way to produce tears.

That didn’t change the fact that he really, really wanted to, however.

“I know this isn’t going to make anything better, but... I love you too.” Leo swallowed harshly. “Gods, how I wish I could touch you.”

Takumi smiled through his tears, finally looking away from the wall to face Leo.  
“Well,” he sniffed, “if we’re going to be in this situation, I’m at least glad that we’re in it together.”

“Always,” Leo leaned in close. “Always together.”

•••

“Ugh, that was the third one this week! Are all the psychics around here just phoney?” Takumi stormed back through the front door after practically chasing yet another fake psychic from their home. He flung himself onto the couch dramatically, turning his head to look at Leo, who was gazing at him with barely concealed amusement, chin resting in his hand. Sensing Takumi’s annoyance, he dropped his smile, sitting up straight. “Hey,” he said softly. “I’m sure there are plenty of real psychics out there, we’re bound to find one eventually. All we have to do is keep looking.”

“I know,” Takumi sighed, leaning towards Leo. “But... what if we do find one, and they can’t help us?”

“Well, I can already move small things around on my own,” Leo replied, “so it doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch that with some extra help I’ll be able to touch large objects.” He smiled, reaching one hand out to run his fingers through Takumi’s hair - he moved some strands, but most of them just passed straight through him.

“Just you wait - we’ll be holding hands in no time.”

•••

“I’m home!” Takumi called out as he opened the front door. “And we’ve got a visitor.” He walked around and into the living room, where Leo was lounging on the couch, watching the tv. Leo craned his head over his shoulder. “Another psychic?”

“Yeah,” Takumi replied, dumping his bag on the floor. “She’s a friend of Oboro’s friend Orochi, apparently. I’ve got a good feeling about her.”

“You said that about the last one. And the one before that. And-“

Takumi waved him off with a scoff, leaning out of the living room doorway to talk to whoever was still in the entryway. “It’s okay, you can come in now. Thanks for waiting, I just wanted to let him know we had company.”

“That’s quite alright, dear,” came the woman’s voice.

Leo went cold.

It was a very familiar woman’s voice.

The woman stepped into the room, and if Leo had a heart if would have stopped.

He stood up so quickly that Takumi got dizzy for him, and shouted, “Camilla?”

The woman went pale, gripping onto the doorframe so hard her knuckles went white. “Leo?” Her voice was barely a whisper.

Takumi’s head whipped back and forth, struggling to piece together the situation. “You know her?” He asked Leo.

“Yes,” he replied, gaze unmoving from where it had locked with Camilla’s. “Takumi, this is Camilla. My sister.”

“Your sister! Holy shit, Leo, I’m sorry-“

“It’s okay,” Leo’s voice sounded dreamy; distant. “You didn’t know.”

“Leo? That’s really you?” Camilla took small, shaky steps towards him, as if she couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing.

“Yes, it’s me.”

“You’ve been here this whole time, and I never saw you... how could this be?”

Leo laughed, but there wasn’t any humour in it. “Probably because I never came down to see any of you.”

Camilla looked hurt. “Why didn’t you ever come to see us? We were all heartbroken - any sign that you hadn’t been taken from us completely would have worked.”

“You try coming face to face with your murderer and see how well you handle it,” Leo spat, face twisting into a scowl.

Camilla gasped. “You mean-?”

“Of course. Who else?”

“Hey uh, sorry to interrupt,” Takumi jumped in, “but can someone please explain what’s going on?”

“I suppose you do deserve an explanation,” Leo mused, “but I’ll keep it short; I don’t exactly like to talk about this.”

“Oh, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s fine,” Leo smiled at him, tense. “The owner of this house, the one you bought it from, was my father. And my murderer.”

“Hang on, you were killed by your FATHER? I met him... holy shit, I shook the hand of the guy who stuffed your body in a piano.”

“He did WHAT?” Camilla screeched. 

“You didn’t know?” Takumi yelled, panicked.

“Of course I didn’t know!” Camilla replied. She turned to Takumi, mouth set in a furious line. “Please tell me you at least buried him properly.”

“Uhh...”

“I asked him not to,” Leo jumped to Takumi’s rescue. “If my body is moved so is my spirit, and I would like to stay here.”

Camilla breathed in and out slowly. “Well,” she said, obviously forcing herself to stay calm, “all terrible revelations aside, I’m glad to see you again, little brother.” She smiled at Leo, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. “It’s been a long time.”

•••

“So, Camilla, how did you become a psychic?” Takumi asked later that night.

“Well,” she said, smiling fondly at Leo who was sat on the opposite side of the room, scowling at whatever book he was reading. “I actually decided to become one after Leo went missing, in the hopes that one day I would be able to see him again.”

Takumi smiled at her. “Looks like your plan worked, then.”

Camilla smiled back, but then sighed, eyes downcast. “I just wish he’d let me bring Xander and Elise to see him.”

“He will, he just needs some time - this is all a lot for him.”

Camilla nodded in understanding. “All that aside, I’m just so thankful that I can see him now.” She stood up and turned to Takumi with a flourish. “Now, shall we get started? I understand my little brother needs some help in the subtle art of hand holding.”

Takumi laughed as Leo spluttered.

•••

After a few weeks of intensive training, Leo was making slow but steady progress - he could pick up some heavier objects now, and even push things, albeit briefly. The day he finally managed to push a beach ball they’d bought down the hallway was the day he was most excited about; it was by far the longest amount of time he had been able to keep a solid touch on something. He could barely contain his excitement as he bounced around the house, planning on throwing the beach ball at Takumi when he got home as a surprise. He was due to get home soon, and Leo could hardly wait.

Takumi had promised when he left for school that morning that he would swing by the video store after class - there was a new release Leo desperately wanted to see, and he wasn’t willing to view it in anything other than HD. 

No fuzzy streaming sites, thank you.

The video store was on his way home, so Takumi had assured Leo it was okay, he wouldn’t be long. He only had one class that day, anyway.

“I’ll be back before you know it,” Takumi had laughed as he walked out the door that morning.

Takumi didn’t come home.

He didn’t come home at all that week, and in that time Leo managed to work himself into a frenzy in his worry. Where was Takumi? Was he okay? He’d better be okay. Why hadn’t he come home?

His questions were answered when Camilla visited at the end of the week, face pale and clutching a newspaper.

“Oh Leo,” she whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

“What? What is it?” Leo was frantic, and he could feel the burning pressure of tears behind his eyes.

If only he could cry.

Wordlessly, Camilla held out the newspaper and pointed to one spot on the page. 

It was an obituary.

Leo read Takumi’s name at the top and couldn’t read any more.

He collapsed to the ground, choking on air he didn’t need and heaving dry sobs, wailing his despair to Camilla who could do nothing but sit by him as he grappled fruitlessly with his grief. Eventually, when the gaps between his sobs became long enough to force words through, he whispered, “Camilla, I need you to do me a favour.”

•••

Takumi woke up and flinched reflexively, expecting to see the car rushing towards him. But there was nothing there - just open fields sprawling in front of him.

“Good morning,” came a familiar voice from behind.

Takumi stood up and turned around to face Leo, only to be startled but the tombstones that stretched out behind him.

“We’re in a graveyard? Leo, what’s going on?”

Leo paused, unsure of how to break the news to Takumi. “I’m sorry Takumi, but... you - you died.” He couldn’t say it without choking up.

Takumi’s eyes widened. “The car...”

Leo nodded. “The car.”

“I still don’t understand though; what are you doing here?”

“Some people who work here owe Camilla a few favours - don’t ask - so I had her move my remains here.” Leo smiled softly at him. “I couldn’t leave you alone out here.”

“Oh Leo,” Takumi stepped forwards as if to hug him, but stopped short. “Thank you.”

Leo closed the distance between them and pulled Takumi into an embrace, finally being able to hold him close like he’s wanted to do for so long. “It’s the least I could do.”

Takumi returned the hug fiercely, burying his face in Leo’s shoulder. “At least we’re can touch each other now,” Takumi let out a mirthless laugh. “The perks of us both being dead, I guess.” He started to sniff, and Leo recognised Takumi’s shaking as crying; sobs that were wrenching their way out of him, regardless of if Takumi wanted to cry or not. “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “Being dead will take some getting used to, I guess.”

“It’s okay,” Leo spoke into Takumi’s hair as he rocked them both side to side gently in an effort to soothe Takumi. “I’ll be here with you.”  



End file.
